Bringing a puppy into your home can be quite exciting. However, you want to make sure you offer the proper training so that your new family member listens to what you say instead of chewing your furniture and making messes. Here are a few tips to keep in mind that can help make the training process a bit easier as well as some things that you might want to avoid.
Do Focus Your Puppy’s Attention
During the training process, you want to focus on your puppy as much as possible. Avoid other distractions as they could make it difficult to use an authoritative voice when teaching commands. Pay attention to your puppy’s natural behavior and what they are interested in as this can help determine the cues that work and which ones are ignored.
Don’t Hide Your Feelings
If you expect your puppy to do something for a treat or a reward, then you need to offer what you use. This will make it easier for your puppy to trust your actions as they see that they will really get a treat when they do something that you ask. Common ways of tempting your puppy include dangling items in front of them or placing a treat on the floor and then taking it away.
Do Give Immediate Rewards and Praise
When you begin training your puppy, you want to offer rewards right away for the behavior that you expect. Puppies usually don’t have the long attention span as older dogs, so you want them to see that they will receive something that they enjoy or that’s tasty as soon as they sit, shake, or go outside. When they see that there’s an immediate reward, then they will want to do the action again.
Don’t Stop Being Consistent
After looking online to find the dog that’s just right for your family, you want to be as consistent as possible during the training process. This means getting your pet on a schedule. You want to take your puppy outside at similar times during the day to decrease the risk of accidents in the home. You should also feed your dog at certain times as well, which can help with the bathroom routine. When you’re training, you want to use the same commands for each action. Try to use the same tone in your voice as well so that your puppy knows when you expect action to occur and when it’s time to play.
Do Remember You’re the Leader
While there are other people who will want to play with your dog, you don’t want to let other people try to be authoritative over your pet. It needs to know that you are his master instead of several people, even if those people live in the same home.
Don’t Forget to Offer Corrections
Although it can be tempting to want to scold your puppy as soon as it does something wrong or if you’re angry, you want to avoid punishments when you’re upset. This can result in words being said or actions being performed that can scare your dog. Instead, show your puppy what they did before firmly telling your puppy no while also withholding a treat for the action.
With a little patience, you can train your puppy to be a loving member of your family and one that listens to what you say with ease.